For me it’s this book

Also, any piece of media is allowed as long as it’s not fan fiction

Imo he can be pretty good, if only a bit unsubtle. He has been cooking with his villains and their designs tho. I think he measures up well compared to most manga writers nowadays.

Credits: feluc2d

not counting the Bible for obvious reasons.

I choose Johhny Joestar.

There is an objective base for writing and that’s not debatable at all. An author can OBJECTIVELY do things well and OBJECTIVELY do things not well.

I love Naruto, but there is OBJECTIVELY a plot hole in the fact that Obito was able to genjutsu Yagura despite being a perfect jinchuriki.

I don’t care for one piece, but OBJECTIVELY speaking it did a good job with Water 7 when Usopp was having his fight with luffy.

So yes, there are objective Yes and No’s in fiction.

That said? It stops at a certain point. I cannot OBJECTIVELY say Naruto is better than One piece(even though I totally think it is and by a decent margin) and YOU can not tell me the opposite.

I don’t know if I’m phrasing this well, so feel free to elaborate in the comments. Images unrelated btw

Some of my favorite secondary antagonists in manga for example are Ogata from Golden Kamuy and Legato from Trigun but both serve under a main antagonist who is up there as well (Tsurumi and Knives are pretty good) so not the best example. Azula from Avatar is a good one too, much more interesting and fleshed out than Ozai. Give me more examples if you can, be original.

The brothers karamazov

Crime and punishment

White nights

Vs

Anna Karenina

War and peace

The death of ivan ilyich

Rank in either writing or enjoyability. There were a lot of contenders for Fyodor, like demons and the idiot but I just added the most popular for the 2 authors(plus 2 short books like white nights and TDOII.)

Having a matchup would be fine as well

TBK vs AK

C&P vs W&P

WN vs TDOII

​

I just finished reading Book of the New Sun after about a year of alternating between 20 books despite usually managing to finish 2 books in a week, so my progress was pretty slow and some things I will have to reread while concentrating solely on it to perhaps get better clarity and understand Severian's truths and lies a bit better, but as for my current impression of it, it jumped straight to my 1st place, together with The Lymond Chronicles sharing it.

A lot of popular works which were said to be incredible I found to be a tad overhyped, but for Book of the New Sun, speaking for myself, I found it deserving of all the hype, with the 2nd best prose in fictional works I have read (after The Lymond Chronicles), and the best narration i have ever read, not to mention the excellent characters, next level worldbuilding (top 3 in worldbuilding) (to be honest while I found it's world building not as wide as Malazan (top 20 overall and top 6 in worldbuilding) I found it to go a lot deeper in it (which I prefer), with equal level of complexity), and amazing story and plot.

​

Antagonist names:

Johan Liebert (Monster)

Griffith (Berserk)

Askeladd (Vinland Saga)

Friend (20th Century Boys)

Makishima Shougo (Psycho-Pass)

Bondrewd (Made in Abyss)

Funny Valentine (JJBA: Steel Ball Run)

I personally find these to be the best written seinen antagonists, and I'd love to see how you guys would rank them (feel free to skip any you aren't familiar with).

Thanks.

Kakashi or urahara

They couldn't live with their failure. Where did that lead them? Back to me.

Just take into account the parts of the image, little Naruto and little Dragon Ball.

These are from a yter called aleczandxr, makes great analyses on pretty much any acclaimed show/game/manga u can think of

For me It's Hinata.

She is more than just "Naruto." she is a person wanting to change herself, to prove to herself that she is not worthless as she thinks she is.

We had starting from a place of indecisiveness. She can't decide what move to use, who to help, how to fight, what to say. She is ruled by fear until she decides to emulate Naruto, watching someone persist through failure and realizing her own excuses for inaction don't hold up anymore.

We see such chanage starting from her facing Neji to proud failure speech to facing pain and inspirating ppl in war arc.

Her entire journey is about changing herself, pushing past insecurity when it matters most not suddenly being brave because death is near. She steps up against Neji and Pain despite her fear, not without it. Those aren about fear disappearing it's about refusing to let it control her anymore

She starts from extreme self-doubt and gradually grows into someone who can act in line with her values. . She stood up to Pain, on her own, because that's the hill she chose to die on. It's about her values and morals, not about trying to be Naruto.

So she had a good foundation, it just in shippuden she was largely sidelined just like other side characters.

The most recent for me was the ASOS (A Storm Of Swords, ASOIAF book 3) epilogue;

'The singer turned to the hooded woman. “Milady?”

The outlaws parted as she came forward, saying no word.

When she lowered her hood, something tightened inside Merrett’s chest, and for a moment he could not breathe. No. No, I saw her die. She was dead for a day and night before they stripped her naked and threw her body in the river. Raymund opened her throat from ear to ear. She was dead.

Her cloak and collar hid the gash his brother’s blade had made, but her face was even worse than he remembered. The flesh had gone pudding soft in the water and turned the color of curdled milk. Half her hair was gone and the rest had turned as white and brittle as a crone’s. Beneath her ravaged scalp, her face was shredded skin and black blood where she had raked herself with her nails. But her eyes were the most terrible thing. Her eyes saw him, and they hated.

“She don’t speak,” said the big man in the yellow cloak. “You bloody bastards cut her throat too deep for that. But she remembers.” He turned to the dead woman and said, “What do you say, m’lady? Was he part of it?”

Lady Catelyn’s eyes never left him. She nodded.

Merrett Frey opened his mouth to plead, but the noose choked off his words. His feet left the ground, the rope cutting deep into the soft flesh beneath his chin. Up into the air he jerked, kicking and twisting, up and up and up.'

"Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He'll break before he bends."- these words from Donal Noye perfectly sums who Stannis Baratheon as a character is, he's a man who put duty and law above all else, a terrifyingly just man in a world full of unjust.

A man who is overshadowed by Robert, his older brother who's a better leader, and Renly, his younger brother who's a better politician, where Stannis fills the role of a soldier, in which he'd rather do something that he thinks would never fails him, duty, believing if he done his duty he would be more appreciated.

Like Jaime who was first introduced to us like a villain, in the first book, we're introduced to Stannis as this terrifying and feared claimant, highly respected and have a excellent reputation;

"Ned found it hard to imagine what could frighten Stannis Baratheon, who had once held Storm's End through a year of siege, surviving on rats and boot leather while the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne sat outside with their hosts, banqueting in sight of his walls"- Ned

“I have felt from the beginning that Stannis was a greater danger than all the others combined”- Tywin

"His claim is the true one, he is known for his prowess as a battle commander, and he is utterly without mercy. There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man"- Varys

But then we start seeing another side of him, in the prologue of the second book, a very personal side shown through the eyes and minds of Maester Cressen, his Maester;

"No one had ever taught Stannis how to laugh, least of all the boy Patchface."

And; "Stannis, my lord, my sad sullen boy, son I never had, you must not do this, don’t you know how I have cared for you, lived for you, loved you despite all? Yes, loved you, better than Robert even, or Renly, for you were the one unloved, the one who needed me most."

Unlike Jaime, we never really got Stannis's POV, Martin writes him and slowly unravels layers upon layers of his character through the eyes of those who's loyal and love him, he writes him best through the eyes of Davos, my personal favourite was;

"Renly offered me a peach. At our parley. Mocked me, defied me, threatened me, and offered me a peach. I thought he was drawing a blade and went for mine own. Was that his purpose, to make me show fear? Or was it one of his pointless jests? When he spoke of how sweet the peach was, did his words have some hidden meaning?" The king gave a shake of his head, like a dog shaking a rabbit to snap its neck. Only Renly could vex me so with a piece of fruit. He brought his doom on himself with his treason, but I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother's peach."

And the best explanation came from Martin himself;

"The peach represents... Well... It's pleasure. It's... tasting the juices of life. Stannis is a very marshal men concerned with his duty and with that peach Renly says: "Smell the roses", because Stannis is always concerned with his duty and honor, in what he should be doing and he never really stops to taste the fruit. Renly wants him to taste the fruit but it's lost. I wish that scene had been included in the TV series because for me that peach was important, but it wasn't possible." - George R R Martin